Historical Events on July 1

1766: For the crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic procession through Abbeville in France, François-Jean de la Barre is tortured, beheaded and burned on a pyre with a copy of the Dictionnaire philosophique by Voltaire nailed to his chest.

1770: Lexell’s Comet comes within 0.0146 a.u of the Earth. That’s closer than any other comet in recorded human history.

1782: The British colony of Lunenburg in Nova Scotia is attacked and raided by American privateers.

1819: The Great Comet of 1819 is discovered by Johann Georg Tralles. It’s the first comet to be analyzed using Polarimetry.

1837: In England and Wales, a system is devised to record births, deaths and marriages.

1855: The Quinault Treaty is signed. This treaty cedes the lands of the Quinault and the Quileute to the U.S.

1863: During the American Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg starts.

1870: The U.S Department of Justice is created.

1898: During the Spanish American War, the Battle of San Juan Hill begins.

1903: The first Tour de France bicycle race is held on this date.

1908: The standard SOS signal becomes the official international distress signal.

1916: It’s the first day of the Battle of Somme during World War I. On this day, almost 20,000 British soldiers are killed and over 40,000 are wounded.

1922: In the United States, the Great Railroad Strike begins.

1923: All Chinese immigration into Canada is suspended by the Canadian Parliament.

1931: Boeing Air Transport is founded. This airline would eventually become United Airlines.

1942: The First Battle of El Alamein is fought on this date during World War 2.

Famous Birthdays on July 1

British-American actress Olivia de Havilland is born in 1916.

American actress Florence Stanley is born in 1924.

American actor Farley Granger is born in 1925.

American biologist and Nobel Prize laureate, Gerald Edelman is born in 1929.